Tips on Writing and Playing a Psychopath:
After writing several murder mysteries and role playing games, I have noticed a theme in the characters I write. All of the games I write tend to include at least one psychopath or sociopath type of character. Now, I realize that may reflect more on me and that is definitely something I should take up with my therapist, but for now I figured I could pass down some of the things I learned when attempting to write or play a psychopath! Now, keep in mind for each of these I am in no way a doctor nor do I feel these are in any way diagnostic. It is just my advice on ways to create compelling and convincing character tropes.
“Eating well is good for your health, but fighting me isn’t!”
Always Keep in Mind the Lack of Empathy:
According to the book The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson1, one thing you should always remember when writing a true psychopath is the lack of empathy and generally all feelings. You can’t assign motivations like love or respect to a psychopathic character. An emotion like anger or revenge may be more appropriate if that character is kept from their goal or things that may satisfy their “curiosity”, which brings me to the next point.
Curiosity Is Likely a Big Motivator:
Many times, a psychopath might take an action for no other reason than they are simply curious about the result. This could lead to psychopaths that aren’t even necessarily the “bad guys” in a murder mystery. A psychopath may want to attempt to discover who committed a crime out of some level of intrigue to possibly experience a new thing or to just see how it was done to learn the outcome. This is a dynamic that creates some very layered characters and many ways for people to play them.
“Dagonica is the past, the present, and the future!”
All Their Expressions are Learned from Watching Others:
Another interesting trait when writing a psychopath is to keep in mind during their backstory, they only know proper ways to act based on watching others. Such as laughing when others laugh or crying when everyone else is sad. This could translate to someone playing a very “off” character if you write into their backstory that they don’t understand social dynamics. A character that doesn’t understand when to laugh or be serious can be suspicious or just add intrigue to the game. If you are playing a character as a psychopath, be sure to play up the awkward demeanor if the scenario is one in which you character couldn’t have learned proper behavior. Perhaps laugh at some morbid news or even be overly upset about some bad news.
They Don’t Need to be “Genius Criminals”:
We mostly only hear about the psychopaths that ended up getting caught only after multi-year dangerous careers. Additionally, according to The Psychopath Test again, many prominent businessmen also demonstrate some levels of psychopathic behaviors as well. However, what gets lost in the shuffle is that being smart and being a psychopath are not always conjoined. Someone could be a ruthless thug or just a terrible scam artist and possess these traits. Writing a character with no remorse that is also just terrible at their job or mission can create a hilarious and fun dynamic. In our Wrestling Murder Mystery, you’ll notice several characters that, while rather devoid of a conscience, are also quite inept and it makes it incredibly fun.
“I was wondering if you were here to murder us all?”
There are Varying Degrees of Psychopathy:
Keep in mind you can have characters that are dark, like in the Serial Killer Social game on this site, or ones that just have a more “lighthearted” psychopathy like in Wrestling Murder Mystery. You can also compensate even further into the morbid and troubled realm like some characters in the upcoming Viking Murder Mystery as well. It isn’t a black and white portrayal and definitely more of a gradient of lunacy. When writing a backstory for a character, keep in mind the overall tone you may be wanting for the game and what kind of accuracy you even necessarily care about.
That’s about it, also keep in mind I am clearly no doctor and drink too much.
1Ronson, Jon. The Psychopath Test. Macmillan, 2012.
